Many highly efficacious drugs have already been created and the main hurdle that these drug molecules have to overcome is their hydrophobicity. Due to this lack of solubility, regardless of the drugs efficacy, the molecules will never be cleared as viable treatment options. Furthermore, biological therapeutics such as antibodies and proteins (e.g., growth factors) are not stable for a prolonged time in the biological environment and impedes their activity and therapeutic efficacy. Moreover, it has been found that therapeutics can work very efficiently together and enhance the therapeutic outcome known as the synergistic effect.
Thus, there remains a need for delivery systems that address hydrophobicity and/or lack of solubility. In view of the need of delivery systems that deliver drugs of different nature, can control the kinetics of the delivery, and react to external stimuli, multifaceted delivery systems are being developed. The combinations of 3-D nanoparticles are designed to deliver small molecules that are imbedded in non-crosslinked or crosslinked matrices are of interest. Additionally, 2-D materials that contain no 3-D nanoparticle materials are crosslinked to hydrophilic networks to be formed in click reactions in hydrophilic and hydrophobic environments. The functionalities in these hydrogel materials allow response to heat, reconfiguring the network but not destroying the structure.